<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Sparklers by TriplePirouette</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27339466">Sparklers</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriplePirouette/pseuds/TriplePirouette'>TriplePirouette</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Tumblr Ask Box Fic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:20:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>752</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27339466</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriplePirouette/pseuds/TriplePirouette</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>CaptainPeggyCarterIsMySexuality on Tumblr prompted: Steve and Peggy and spending Steve or Peggy's first birthday together after Steve came back.</p><p>Steve's birthday, post-endgame</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sparklers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just making all of this the F up. Managed to get two electrical shocks today and almost had a battery explode on me, so… yeah. Don’t care if it’s time period appropriate. Post-Endgame, Steve back in the past with Peggy.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Peggy sat on the small balcony, sipping her wine as the city grew dim around them. Steve laughed to himself, taking a long pull from his beer. Even on the Fourth of July, she could still find a way to somehow skirt expectations. “Just couldn’t manage a good old beer for the fireworks?”</p><p> </p><p>Peggy swirled her wine in her hand, waiting for him to sit in the chair next to hers, face dour. “Did you like it, having your birthday on a national holiday when you were a kid?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sometimes,” he offered, sitting quietly, trying to sus out her mood. “It meant there was always something fun to be done. Almost always fireworks.” He smiled lightly, watching as dusk settled around them. “For a poor kid, it meant I always got to celebrate with something, even if there wasn’t money for a cake or a party. There were always fireworks and barbeques and people out in the streets.” He turned, smiling at her. “Yeah, it was always a good day.”</p><p> </p><p>Peggy took a long moment, sipping her wine before she reached out and twined her hand with his. “All those years you were gone, it hurt.” He squeezed her hand, waiting. She only looked out to the horizon. “The fireworks felt like…. Like the bombs. I cringed every time one went off that first year, thinking about what that explosion must have felt like, what it must have been like when you crashed.” She looked down into her wine and took a quick gulp, swallowing down the wine and her emotions. “And then after that, I forced myself to watch them. To try to see them as a memorial to you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Peg…” Steve started, turning in his chair, but she looked at him with a soft smile, and there was only a hint of sadness in her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“No, I…” She turned away at the first explosion in the air, waiting until the green sparks of the test firework faded into the night that wasn’t quite dark enough yet. She kept her eyes trained on the sky. “I thought I’d never have you back again,” she whispered, “and that all I’d have left were memories and explosions once a year in the night sky.”</p><p> </p><p>Steve set his beer on the ground next to him and tugged her hand, pulling her into his lap. He took her wine from her hands, leaving it next to his bottle on the ground. His hand was chilly from the cold beverage when he cupped her cheek. He kissed her slowly, pulling back to let his forehead rest on hers. “I’m sorry.”</p><p> </p><p>“Damn well better be,” she mumbled, laughing halfheartedly. She let her arms wrap around his shoulders, snuggling down into his embrace. “I don’t mean to be so maudlin, today of all days.”</p><p> </p><p>“Just tell me you weren’t alone,” Steve whispered, letting a hand brush over her hair.</p><p> </p><p>“Alone and lonely are two totally different things, Steven, and I know you know that as well as anyone.”</p><p> </p><p>Another firework exploded in the sky, red sparks flying out from the epicenter over the rooftops. “I do,” he whispered, “which is why I asked.”</p><p> </p><p>She sighed, her silence as much of an answer as any she could give with words. His hand moved gently up and down her back as the fireworks lit up the sky, exploding far enough away that the concussive sound was muffled, but close enough that they could see every sparkling particle as they lit up the sky and floated down to disappear. They snuggled close, watching as the red, blue, green, and white explosions filled the air for long, quiet moments.</p><p> </p><p>When the last spark left the sky, whoops of joy erupted from below them, the city saluting the display. Peggy moved from his arms, leaning down and lifting her glass and his bottle with one hand. He took it from her, clinking the glass together. “To us,” Peggy whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“To us,” Steve repeated, smiling himself. He didn’t take his eyes off her as they drank.</p><p> </p><p>She leaned forward, kissing his slowly but deeply, the wine on her tongue dark and sweet. She pulled back, just far enough to speak. “Happy Birthday, my darling.”</p><p> </p><p>“The happiest,” he replied, winding his arms tight around her. “I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.”</p><p> </p><p>“Promise?” She asked, her voice thick with emotion.</p><p> </p><p>He kissed her quickly before laying his head against hers, the sound of children’s laughter and the crackle of sparklers below them. “Promise.”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>